By: Judith Ferster

Fevered, unconscious, I was ambulanced
to the ER where, worried
I had had a stroke, they sent me,
I learned later from records,
to the nearby wing with a CT scanner and another
with an X-ray machine, through tunnels
posted as shelters for emergencies–perhaps tornadoes?–
which in other emergencies worse than weather
could also be military posts.

My hospital has tunnels reaching out to tunnels.
Staff whizzed me attached to my rehydrating
with antibiotics bag on a pole, tunnel to tunnel,
machine to machine, wing to wing,
saving my life underground.

I surfaced.